It Never Works Out So Well For The Bait
by MsMacBeth10
Summary: Hermione opened her eyes with a gasp. She had no idea where she was, and she did the only thing she could do with her hands tied behind her back: she screamed. And Draco did the only thing he could think of to shut her up...
1. In Which the Plan is Formed

Draco Malfoy shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the table. It had been a few minutes since the Dark Lord had last spoken, and it was as if the Death Eaters were all holding their breaths as they waited for their master to speak. His parents looked equally nervous about something. Draco couldn't blame them—they were, after all, using Malfoy Manor as headquarters—and the thought of the Dark Lord there in their home was terrifying enough on its own. Yet here he was, sitting at the table among his Death Eaters.

"It would be an advantage," the Dark Lord continued at last, stroking Nagini's head as he spoke, "if we knew the battlefield better than the enemy."

The youngest Death Eater briefly wondered if the Dark Lord was suggesting to use Malfoy Manor as said battlefield. To see his beloved manor blown up…It would be such an unpleasant sight. Even the thought of it caused Draco to shudder.

"Yes, Draco? Would you like to share your thoughts with us?" The Dark Lord asked, and Draco gaped back at him. It was almost as if _he_ had read his mind…

Under the glares of his parents, Draco muttered with his voice quivering, "W-We can use Malfoy Manor as the location for battle. This is where we know better than anyone else." There was no way he could have lied to the Dark Lord without him finding out the truth.

The Dark Lord nodded his approval. "Excellent idea, Draco Malfoy," he purred softly, and Draco felt himself relax.

"M-My lord?" Asked Bellatrix, hesitantly raising her hand for permission. "But how will we get Potter to come here?"

"Hmm..." the Dark Lord drawled, "Who is Potter closest to?"

"Ronald Weasley," Snape said immediately from his seat.

He fixed his cold gaze on Snape. "Anyone else?"

_It's as if he's testing us,_ Draco realized in horror. It was obvious the Dark Lord knew who Potter was friends with, so why was he questioning them on all this now? "And that Granger girl," Draco put in, "the Mudblood." He rarely spoke at Death Eater meetings, and already he was forced to speak twice in front of the Dark Lord in one day.

"Yes, the Mudblood," The Dark Lord approved, clapping his hands together in what could only have been excitement. "Draco, I am entrusting you with this mission. Take the Mudblood girl and bring her here to the manor."

Draco stared back at the Dark Lord in shock. Has he gone insane? There was absolutely no way he, Draco Malfoy, was going to dirty his hands by touching Granger. What he ended up saying, however, was, "But how will I bring her here?"

"Severus will help you. Won't you, Severus?" He turned his attention to Snape, who visibly gulped before he assented the request.

"Yes, of course, my lord," Snape murmured with a faraway expression on his face.

Addressing them all now, the Dark Lord declared, "She will serve as the bait for Potter. And when Potter does come, it will most likely be either by himself or with a few others. We can take him down easily."

The Death Eaters gave their agreement; many with murderous glints in their eyes.

"And after Potter does come, my lord?" Bellatrix said eagerly, "May I kill the girl?"

"You may do anything you wish, Bellatrix," the Dark Lord answered coolly. "Until the time comes, we shall prepare for battle. I await your success, Draco." With that, he waved his hand to show that the meeting had ended.

Draco watched the Death Eaters leave, his hands sweaty and his face pale. No doubt he was going to be having nightmares for days to come...


	2. In Which the Trio is Down to Two

"Oh, rats!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly, dropping her fork in the process. Harry looked at her, his eyes filled with alarm, while Ron choked on his mouthful of mashed potatoes.

When Ron finally managed to swallow it, he asked wildly, "Rats? Where?"

"It's an expression," explained Hermione irritatedly. "Argh, I can't believe it! I _knew_ something was wrong with my extra credit essay for Professor Flitwick! I had written sixteen forty-nine as the year _Wingardium Leviosa _was created, but now that I think about it, it was probably either sixteen forty-eight or sixteen fifty!"

Ron patted her shoulder comfortingly. "It's all right, 'Mione! Besides, it's just a _year_! Flitwick wouldn't be able to tell the difference!"

She shot him a reproachful look. "Of course it matters, Ron!"

"It's an extra credit assignment, anyway!" Ron pointed out, "You already have full marks in charms! Why even bother doing the assignment?"

Hermione glared back at him. "Ronald! I bet no one else did the assignment, and we can't let Professor Flitwick down!"

Harry, who couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer, protested, "Hermione! Just because Ron and I didn't do it doesn't mean everyone didn't do it! Relax and enjoy dinner, will you?"

"Good point," Ron nodded in agreement, earning another angry glower from Hermione.

"No, I will not!" She snapped, getting up and swinging her bag over her shoulder.

Harry caught onto her sleeve, stopping her from leaving. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the library! Where else?"

"Now?" Ron stared at her in surprise. "It's dinnertime, Hermione! Can't it wait till _after _dinner?"

"It can't!" She said shrilly. "It's been nagging me all afternoon and I've finally figured out the mistake! So I have to go now, or else...I'll be back later!"

Harry and Ron exchanged a dumbfounded glance, not wanting to know what she would have done otherwise. With a shrug, the two friends returned to their dinner while Hermione dashed off to the library to check her research. None of them noticed Draco Malfoy get up from the Slytherin table.

Hermione reached for the handle of the door, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. She really needed to stop overreacting over such small errors, yet she knew she just _had _to get every tiny detail perfect. "Well, here we go..." she said out loud to herself, about to pull the handle open.

Just then, an arm reached for her from behind. She opened her mouth to yell out, but the arm tightened around her neck and knocked her unconscious before she could.

"That wasn't too bad, I suppose," Draco grunted, catching her as she fell. "Ugh, my hands will be so _dirty _for the next few _months _for touching the Mudblood," he grumbled, carrying her bridal style toward Snape's office. At least the other professors were at dinner and had not realized anything was wrong. He stopped as he saw Snape hurrying toward him.

"Sorry," the Potions master apologized briskly as he saw Draco waiting by the door, "Minevra was telling me about...oh, never mind. I see you were successful in kidnapping her?" Draco inclined his head in response, and Snape went on coolly, "The Dark Lord will be pleased." Snape himself sounded anything but pleased as he muttered a spell to Disillusion her.

* * *

><p>"Here we are," Snape announced unnecessarily as the two (and a still unresponding Hermione) stood outside Malfoy Manor in the dark. "I must return before Dumbledore issues a search for us. You can handle things from here, I assume, Draco?"<p>

Draco gazed back at Snape, frowning in thought. The professor was behaving rather strangely that night. It was almost as if...almost as if he was here against his will. "Of course," he said, heading into the house without so much as a glance at Snape, who then wordlessly Apparated back to Hogsmeade.

"M-Master Draco! Tinky was not expecting you so soon, sir!" Tinky the House-elf bowed low to the ground as she greeted him. "Is there anything Tinky can do for Master Draco, sir?"

He waved her away. "No need," he answered, "Just inform Father that I have returned."

The House-elf nodded eagerly, glad to have been given something to do. "Tinky will tell Master Malfoy that Master Draco has returned, sir!" And with a _Crack! _she vanished.

The Mudblood let out a groan in his arms, and Draco quickly headed to his room, where he dumped her unceremoniously onto the couch. He chained her hands up, taking her book bag and kicked it into the closet. Then he took out her wand and slid it into his pocket, making a mental note to snap it in half later when she was awake, just for something to piss her off. He sat down on his bed and watched her, hating himself for suggesting such a plan. Hell, if he had been asked to kidnap the Weasel, he would have done it willingly. But the Mudblood? Draco scowled at her.

"Why, Granger, must you make my life so difficult?" Draco mumbled aloud as he stared at her unmoving form. She looked so helpless on the couch, and for some reason, he had an urge to protect her from the Dark Lord. Merlin, just w_hat _was he thinking now? Draco clenched his hand into a fist as a whirl of emotions clouded his mind. She was giving him...negative thoughts.

He could've taken her to the basement, yes, but then he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on her. And who knew what the Death Eaters might do to her? Knowing Bellatrix, she was bound to torture the Mudblood, and the thought of _that _was something even he, Draco Malfoy, found revolting.

_He _was the one who went into the trouble of bringing her here. This had all been _his _idea, and that clearly meant it was _his _responsibility to watch her. Not realizing it until it was too late to stop himself, Draco reached a hand forward and brushed a strand of her hair away from where it had been on her forehead.

_Ugh._

* * *

><p>"What's taking Hermione so long?" Harry wondered, beginning to worry now that most of the other students had left the Great Hall; there still was no sign of Hermione returning.<p>

Ron shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe Peeves got her or something."

"Maybe," Harry said doubtfully. "Hey, Ron, look...Snape isn't here. Wait, now he's coming back..."

Sure enough, the Potions master came hurrying back into the Great Hall, where he nodded to the other professors before retaking his seat. He said something to them then, but Harry and Ron were too far away to hear.

Ron sniggered, watching him. "Who knows? Snape might've graded a paper incorrectly and just _had _to go and regrade it."

"I'm serious, Ron," said Harry, folding his arms across his chest.

"How can you be Sirius when you're Harry?" Ron roared with laughter at his own joke.

"Can you please leave the dead in peace, Ronald?" Ginny glared at him on her way back to the common room.

Harry stood up as he gathered his book bag. "C'mon, Ron. Hermione might've gone back to the common room. Let's go check. And do leave Sirius out of this."

Holding his hands up in defeat, Ron followed Harry back to the Gryffindor Tower. "Pink daisies," said Harry to the Fat Lady, and she swung forward to reveal the common room behind her portrait.

"_Pink _daisies," Ron snorted. "That has got to be the most stupidest password I have ever heard of."

"It's not my fault the Fat Lady's a girl," Harry said, and for a while they laughed together. "At least it's hard to guess," Harry added thoughtfully between their laughter. He stopped abruptly, remembering the real reason they were in the common room. "Hermione," he reminded Ron shortly.

Ron clutched onto the back of an armchair to stop himself from falling over. "R-Right," he gasped, searching the common room for her. The only other students were a few first years and Ginny, who sat scribbling madly on a piece of parchment while flipping through a large textbook. "Oi, Ginny!"

"What now?" She grumbled, looking up, "I'm doing homework, in case you haven't noticed. And you two should start working, too."

"We can't do homework without Hermione around, you know," Ron said. "And speaking of Hermione, have you seen her?"

Ginny frowned. "No, I haven't. I went up to the dormitory a while ago to get my supplies, and she wasn't there. She's not with you?"

Harry gestured to the empty space next to them. "As you can see, she's not with us."

"Perhaps she's still in the library?" Ron asked.

"The Marauders' Map!" Harry realized suddenly, "Of course! Oh, why hadn't I thought of checking it earlier?"

"Check what earlier?" Ginny stopped writing and came over curiously to see what the two of them were discussing.

Ron snatched the parchment away. "Top secret, Ginny. This doesn't concern you."

"I promise I won't tell anyone. Please?"

Harry muttered, "Well, it wouldn't be too bad if she knew."

Ron glanced at her darkly. "She might tell someone though. Someone like...let's see, my _mother_."

"Don't talk about me as if I'm not here!" Ginny snapped. "You interrupted me. Don't you think I have a right to know what's going on? Hermione is my friend, too, remember? I care about her, and you two should too, instead of bickering over whether I get to see your secret."

Harry gave up arguing and pulled out his wand. The youngest Weasley did have a point—what they _should _be focusing on was finding Hermione. "Oh, all right Ginny, you can see. Just don't tell anybody, or else you'll feel your brother's wrath. Right, Ron? Well, here goes. I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Ginny's eyes stretched wide with wonder as the map appeared right in front of her eyes. "Wow," she breathed. "Hey, there's us!"

"Yes, fascinating," said Ron dryly, studying the map. "But, Harry, Hermione's not on the map!"

The Boy Who Lived realized Ron was right. "This is bad. This is very bad."

"Who knew magic like this was possible?" Ginny murmured, still drawn to the map and not helping Harry and Ron search for their missing friend.

"What if she's in the Room of Requirement? That's not on the map," Ron suggested.

"You could be right," Harry agreed hesitantly, "I just don't see a reason why she should go there now. She said she was going to the library, that's all. If she was going to go to the Room of Requirement she would've told us, wouldn't she? _Wouldn't _she?"

Ginny was still staring dazedly at the map when she said rather dreamily, "Hey, guys? Why isn't Malfoy on the map?"

* * *

><p><strong>An:**

**The title is a quote from the movie _National Treasure_. **

**And I have decided to write longer chapters for once.. but that means not as many updates. But reviews do help motivate me, so... **


	3. In Which Sleeping Beauty Awakens

Hermione was having a bad dream. Actually, it was more of a nightmare.

_Sixteen fourty-nine...sixteen fifty..._

_"Professor Flitwick, I've finished the essay!" she said proudly, handing her handiwork to him. After checking and double-checking her facts, she was sure she had finally gotten everything right._

_The Charms professor took her paper from her hands, skimming over it before looking up at her. In a very serious tone, he pushed up his glasses and said solemnly, "I'm very sorry, Miss Granger, but the year in which _Wingardium Leviosa _was invented is not sixteen fifty. It was, I'm afraid, sixteen forty-nine. And because of that, you will be unable to receive any extra credit at all..."_

_Hermione never took in what he said after that. All she could do was stare at him with horror in her eyes._

Hermione opened her eyes with a gasp. She shivered, still in shock from the dream. How could she have failed the assignment she had spent so much time working on? She had dedicated all her time and strength to writing that essay...Then she remembered with a jolt that she hadn't turned it in yet. _Thank goodness it was just a dream_, she thought with relief, collapsing back onto the couch.

Wait a moment..._couch_? Last time she checked, there hadn't been a couch in the library. Did Madam Pince decide to upgrade the library? That seemed highly unlikely, especially with the war going on.

She reached for her wand, hoping that it would help her see better in the dark, only to find that she couldn't reach anywhere at all.

She had no idea where she was, and she did the only thing she could do with her hands tied behind her back: she screamed.

* * *

><p>Draco took a deep breath, watching as the Mudblood remained unconscious. She twitched occasionally, telling him that she must be dreaming. <em>I'm impressed she can sleep even now<em>, he mused, _the workload must really have gotten to her_. Then he wondered why he cared at all.

He berated himself for coming up with such a foolish plan for the Dark Lord. Even though he preferred Hogwarts to Malfoy Manor any day, it was still the place he had grown up in, and the last thing he wanted was for it to go up in flames along with all his childhood memories. But there was nothing he could do now. In any day, Harry Potter would come barging in, and then it would be war.

_I suppose the only thing I can do now is to enjoy this while it lasts_, he thought bitterly, resorting to pacing the room because he was bored. He contemplated painting a fake Dark Mark on her arm just to spite her, but the thought of facing the Dark Lord's wrath if he found out that his precious Mark had touched the skin of a Mudblood made him shudder. He didn't really fancy getting killed before the war even began.

_"Sixteen fourty-nine...sixteen fifty..."_

Draco jumped at the voice, relaxing only when he saw that she was only muttering in her sleep. He realized at once what she was babbling about - that blasted extra credit essay Professor Flitwick had asked them to write. But Draco, being Draco, had completed his last week.

An idea popped into his head. One of his favorite pastimes was messing with Granger, and this was the perfect opportunity. Sitting down on the couch next to her, he leaned in and whispered into her ear, "It's sixteen fourty-nine, idiot."

A while after he spoke, she gasped and sat up abruptly, looking around the room with confusion. Oh good, so she was awake, he noted. This was going to be fun.

She apparently still hadn't seen him yet, but what she did next surprised him. Of all the things she could have done in her situation (run away, struggle to break free, ask him what was going on; heck, she could even have _kissed_ him - not that it was very likely and not that he wanted her to!), he hadn't expected her to scream, but she did. That was one of the things about Granger. She continued doing things that fascinated him.

And so Draco did the only thing he could think of to shut her up - he slapped his hand over her mouth. He wasn't surprised when it worked wonders.

"Keep quiet!" he ordered, eyes darting around the room. Had the Dark Lord heard her?

She nodded, her eyes still wide with shock at the sight of him. She knew there was nothing she could do in protest when he was the one with the most power.

"I'll let you speak if you promise you won't scream," he continued, knowing that if the Dark Lord found out that she was awake, he would launch into the next step of his plan, which was to torture her. Then he'd present her battered form to Potter and force him to come rescue his friend.

She nodded again, and he hesitantly removed his hand from her mouth, expecting the worse.

But all she did was narrow her eyes and ask in a voice that was eerily calm, "Were you the one who ruined my essay, Malfoy?"

Draco fell out of of his seat.

* * *

><p>An: oops. I can't believe it's been 3 years since I've updated..time sure flies by. This is a shorter chapter, but I wanted to upload something because I've finally gotten the inspiration to update again and I didn't want to make you guys wait even longer.

Hope you like this chapter! Let me know with a review? ;)


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